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IGANGA - Iganga Secondary School has exceeded expectation and excelled in the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) 2023 examinations in the special needs’ education category.

The Iganga district-based school deputy headteacher, Patrick Merikol, disclosed on Thursday that all their seven special needs candidates passed in division one.

He disclosed that the best candidate, Emmanuel Pande, scored aggregate 16, and the second best, Frank Sonko scored 19.  

Call for support

Merikol said many special needs students cannot afford quality education and asked the Government to support them.

He encouraged parents to educate children with special needs, saying they are a resource to the nation.

“Many people assume that children with special needs cannot be a resource both at the workplace and home, yet with quality education they become of vital help to the nation,” Merikol said, adding: “Children with special needs who have been successful in education have been a good resource and inspiration. We value and proud to be associated with their career growth”.

Merikol said their children excelled because their school focused in continuous guidance and counselling backed by spiritual nourishment as Church of Uganda-founded school.

The First Lady and Education Minister Mrs Janet Museveni lauded the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB)  for continuing to ensure that the government’s policy of inclusive education is being supported through making adequate arrangements and provisions for children with special education needs.

UNEB is mandated to conduct and manage examinations in Uganda for the end of the educational cycle at primary and secondary school level.

“The education results show that given the right support, the learners will achieve the same level as all the others with no disability,” she said.

More students with disability sit exams

According to UNEB executive director Dan Odongo, a total of 809 special needs education candidates (368 males and 441 females) registered for the 2023 UCE examination compared to 721 in 2022.

Odongo revealed that this is an increase of 12.2% over last year. These consisted of the blind (35), low vision (183), deaf (71), dyslexics (90) and physically handicapped (79).

There were 351 others with other forms of disability that only needed to be given extra time. Only 12 (1.5%) candidates were absent.

Statistics indicate that about 16% of Ugandan children have a disability. However, most of them are unable to attend school, while learners with special needs fail to transition from one education level to another.

According to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, only 5% of children with disability can access education through inclusive schools and 10% through those for special needs.